THEOSISJohn Chrysostom
"But having the same spirit of faith, as it is written, 'I believed, and therefore I spoke,' we also believe, and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us through Jesus" (2 Cor 4:13-14).
Here he reminds us of the psalm (Ps 115:1), which contains much philosophy and can greatly comfort us in misfortune. These words were spoken by a righteous man amid great calamities, from which he could be delivered only by God's help.
Since the Apostle knew that in such misfortunes similar consolations especially relieve the soul, he said, "having the same spirit." That is, "By the same help through which he was delivered from calamities, we also are saved. By the same Spirit through whom he spoke, we also speak."
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At the same time, he shows that there is great harmony between the Old and New Testaments. One and the same Spirit was active in both Testaments. He also shows that we are not alone in suffering calamities, but all the ancients suffered them as well.
Therefore one must be strengthened more in faith and hope, and not immediately seek deliverance from the calamities that befall us.
Having thus proved, by reasoning, the resurrection and life, and that affliction is not a sign of weakness or abandonment by God, the Apostle finally turns to faith and directs everything toward it.
Yet to confirm this faith, he again points to Christ's resurrection, saying, "we also believe, and therefore speak." What do we believe? "Knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us through Jesus and present us with you before Himself."
"For all things are for your sake, that grace, abounding through many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God" (2 Cor 4:14-15).
Again he teaches the Corinthians not to ascribe the benefits they received to men, that is, to the false apostles. All things are from God, who is pleased to pour out His benefits upon many, so that a greater number of people may give Him thanks.
What are you saying? If you did not believe, would you not speak, and would you stand silent? Yes, he says. Without faith I cannot open my mouth, move my tongue, or part my lips.
Though endowed with the gift of speech, I stand silent without its instruction. As a plant without a root cannot produce fruit, so without the prior existence of faith the word of teaching cannot come forth.
Therefore he says elsewhere, "With the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rom 10:10).
What tree could be better than this, or even comparable to it, when not only its branches, but even its root bears fruit? The root is justification, and the branches are salvation.
Therefore he says, "we believe, and therefore speak." A staff firmly supports limbs trembling and weakened by old age, and does not allow them to slip and fall.
So too faith supports our soul more securely than a staff. Our soul is shaken and troubled by the weakness of thoughts. Faith upholds it by the power of its own strength, establishes it safely, and never allows it to stumble.
It corrects the weakness of thoughts by the abundance of its own power. It scatters the darkness that arises from them and illumines with its own light the soul that sits among troubled thoughts, as in a dark house.
Therefore those deprived of faith are in no better state than those who live in darkness. Such people strike walls, collide with those they meet, and fall into ravines and abysses.
Their eyes bring them no benefit when there is no guiding light. So also those deprived of faith collide with one another, strike walls, and finally fall, dragging themselves into the abyss of destruction.
But of what faith is Paul speaking here? The name of faith has a twofold meaning.
Faith is the one by which the Apostles once performed signs, and of which Christ said, "For truly I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move" (Mt 17:20).
Likewise, when the disciples could not deliver the lunatic from the demon and wished to know the cause, He pointed to their lack of faith, saying, "Because of your unbelief" (Mt 17:20).
Paul also speaks of this same faith: "and have all faith, so that I could remove mountains" (1 Cor 13:2).
Similarly, when Peter was walking on the sea and began to sink, Christ reproached him for the lack of this same faith, saying, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Mt 14:31).
Thus faith is the one that performs signs and wonders.
Faith is also the one that guides us to the knowledge of God, by which each of us is a believer.
Of this the Apostle says in the Epistle to the Romans: "I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is proclaimed in all the world" (Rom 1:8).
He also says to the Thessalonians: "From you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but in every place the report of your faith in God has gone out" (1 Thess 1:8).
Which faith does he indicate here? Clearly the faith of knowledge, as the following words show. "We believe," he says, "and therefore speak." What do we believe?
"Knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us through Jesus" by His power.
But why does he call it the spirit of faith and include it among the gifts? If faith is a gift and only a gift of the Spirit, and not our merit, then unbelievers will not be punished, and believers will not be worthy of praise.
For such is the nature of gifts: crowns and rewards are not received for them. A gift is not the merit of those who receive it, but the bounty of the giver.
Therefore the Lord commanded the disciples not to rejoice that they cast out demons. He also deprived of the Kingdom of Heaven those who prophesied and worked many wonders in His name (Mt 7:22).
They could not boast of merits of their own, yet they wished to be saved by gifts alone.
Why, then, does the Apostle call it the spirit of faith? He wishes to show that, at the beginning, believing and obeying the call depend on our good disposition.
But after faith has been planted within us, we need the help of the Holy Spirit, so that it may remain constantly unshaken and unchanged.
Neither God nor the grace of the Spirit anticipates our disposition. Though He calls, He waits for us to come voluntarily and by our own will. Then, once we have come, He grants every help from Himself.
For after we have approached the faith, the devil immediately comes. He wishes to tear out this good root and hastens to sow tares and damage the true and pure seeds.
Then we need the help of the Spirit. Like a diligent farmer seated beside our soul, He surrounds the newly planted growth of faith on every side by His great care and providence.
Therefore the Apostle says in the Epistle to the Thessalonians, "Do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thess 5:19).
He teaches that after the coming of the grace of the Spirit, we shall be inaccessible to the evil demon and all his devices.
For if no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:3), then still more no one can keep his faith safe and firm except by the Holy Spirit.
Why, then, did the Apostle say, "the same"? He wishes to show the great kinship of the New Testament with the Old. Therefore he reminded us of the prophetic saying.
He said, "having the same spirit of faith," and added, "as it is written, 'I believed, and therefore I spoke.'"
Earlier and many years before, David said the very thing that Paul now cited (Ps 115:1). Paul declares that the same grace of the Spirit then rooted the power of faith in David, and now roots it in us.
It is as though he said: the same Spirit of faith who spoke in him also acts in us.
Why, then, did the Apostle say, "having the same spirit of faith"? He also wishes to show that in both the Old and the New Testament, faith is the mother of good things.
Yet it is necessary to begin somewhat farther back, and then this reason will be much clearer to us. What is this reason?
At the time when the Apostle spoke these words, a great war surrounded the faithful, a grievous and unceasing war.
Everywhere whole cities and nations rose against them. All rulers were hostile. Kings took up arms. Weapons were raised, swords sharpened, and armies marched out. Every kind of execution and torture was devised.
The plundering and seizure of possessions, exiles, daily executions, tortures and prisons, fire, iron, beasts, the gallows, the wheel, abysses, cliffs, and everything one could imagine were used to destroy the faithful.
But the war did not stop there. It was not only raised by enemies, but nature itself was divided against itself. Fathers rose against children, daughters hated those who had borne them, and friends turned away from friends.
Little by little, the war penetrated circles of kinship and households. At that time there was great confusion throughout the whole world.
When waves rise, clouds gather, thunder breaks forth, darkness surrounds a ship on every side, the sea rages, monsters arise, sea robbers attack, and the sailors themselves rise against one another, the ship cannot escape danger.
It can be saved only if a higher, mighty, and great right hand repels the confusion, stops the storm, and grants calm to those who sail.
So it was then, at the beginning of the preaching. The storm rose not only from without, but also within they often rose against one another.
Who says this? Paul himself, who writes, "without were fightings, within were fears" (2 Cor 7:5).
That this was truly so, and that countless afflictions surrounded both teachers and disciples, and that the war extended to all, I again bring Paul as witness.
Paul set forth this together with the greatness of the afflictions that overtook them. God had promised them the reward for their labors after their departure from here, while He rewarded their fathers here.
Paul noticed that such thoughts produced great carelessness in them. Therefore he wished to strengthen them and teach them that matters were ordered in the same way among their fathers.
Many received their reward through faith alone. For this reason he reminded them of the prophetic saying: "having the same spirit of faith, as it is written, 'I believed, and therefore I spoke.'"
It is as though he says: great David, that wondrous and noble prophet, also received recompense by faith, and not by experience. Otherwise he would not have said, "I believed, and therefore I spoke."
For faith is the substance of things hoped for, not of things seen (Heb 11:1). Whoever sees something no longer waits for it.
Therefore, if he believed, he believed in what was awaited. If he believed in what was awaited, and what was awaited was not yet seen, then he had not yet received what he believed.
Therefore the Apostle says, "having the same spirit of faith," that is, we also have the same faith that existed in the Old Testament.
Therefore elsewhere, speaking of the saints of that time, he says, "They wandered in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy" (Heb 11:37-38).
Then, teaching that they suffered calamities and had not even yet received the rewards, he adds: they all died in faith, "not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off" (Heb 11:13).
Tell me, how did they see them, when they had not yet been fulfilled? With the eyes of faith, which pierce heaven and behold all that is there.